Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-11-25

Uberatelv kissed him on the brow, and
called him her dear lord"
"Thou seest," she said, when the excited
rnurmur of the spectators had died away,
addressing her sister as Sir Henry rose 20
his feet. II have put my collar round the
swolf's' neck, and, behold he shall be my
watchdog, and that is my answer TO thee,
Sorais, my sister, and to those with thee
Fear not" she went on, smiling sweetly
on her lover, and pointing to the golden
snake she had twined round his massive
throat: ''if my yoke be heavy, yet Is 1t or
pure gold, and it shall not gall thee.
Then, turning to the audience, she con-
tinued ia clear. proud tone. .'Ay, Lady
of the Night. lords, priests, and people, here
gathered together, by this sign 90 ! take
fhe foreigner to husband. even here in the
face of We all. What, am | Queen, ana
vet not free to choose the man wnom VIII
lover Then should L be lower tnah the
meanest girl in all my provinces Nay, he
hath won my heart, and with 1t goes my
hand and throne, and all | haye-ay, had
he been beggar instead OF a grehs loFu;
fairer aud stronger than any here, ana
having more wisdom and knowledge OF
strange things, had given him all. now
much more so then, being what lie ISL ana
she took his hand and gazad proudly on
him. and holding it, stood there boldly lac
ing the people;
It appealed to the imagination; but human
nature in Zu-Fendis, as elsewhere, loves
chat which is bold and not afraid to break
rule, and is, moreover, peculiarly suscept
ible to appeals TO It's pOetical side.
And so the people cheered till the roof
rang. hut "Sorais of the Night stood there
with downcast eyes, for she could not bear
to see her sisters triumph which robbed
her of the man whom she had hoped TO
win, and in the awfulneSS OF her jealous
anger she trembled and turned white ike
nm aspen in the wind. a really handsome
woman in n royal rage Is always a beautl.
full sight. but such beauty and such rage
never saw combined before, and ] can only
say that the effect produced was wei
worthy of the two.
"And thinkest thou, Nyleptha," she
cried. in notes which pealed through the
great hall like clarion, "thinkest thou
that l. a Queen of the Zu-NenGl, VIII brook
that this base outlander shall sit upon my
fathers throne, and rear up halt-oreeds to
fiji the place of the great House of stair
wayf Never! never while there is life in
nv bosom and a man To follow me and a
spear to strike with. Who Is on my side?
Who2 .---,x
and those who came TO prey here with him,
to the doom Of fire, for have they not COM
mitted the deadly sin against the sun? or
Nyleptha, give thee war-rcd war! Ay,
| say to thee that the path OF thy passion
shall be marked out by the blazing OF thy
towns and Watered with the blood OF those
who cIeaVe 10 thee. On thy head rest the
burden of the dead and in thy ears ring
the grOlE5 az the dying and the CRIES OF the
widows and those who are left taJherl2Ss
forever auN forever.
II tell taCc | will tear thee, Nyleptha,
the White Queen, from the throne, and
that thou s.ilt be- hurlcd-ay, hurled, even
from the tuDmOSt stair of the great way TO
the foot thereof in that thou hast covered
the name OF the house of HIM VINO buIlt II
with black shame. And / tell ye, stran-
4
cause thou Gidst do me Il service, L Will
save alive if thou wilt leave these men and
follow me-" (here poor Good shook his
head vigorously and calculated Cant be
done" in English, that ] will wrap you
in sheets of gold and hang you yet alive in
chains from the four golden trumpets of
the four angels that fly east and west, and
north and south, from the giddieSt pima
cles Of the Temple, SO that We may be
token and warning to the land. And as
for thee, InCubu, thou shalt die in yet an
other fashion that ! viii not tell thee now"
She ceased, painting Tor breath. for her
passion shook her like Il storm, and a muir
muir, partly of horror and partly of admir-
atOn, ran through the hall. Then Nylep-
tina answered calmly and with dignity:
Ill would i. become my place and dig
nifty, oh sister, so to speak as thou hast
spoken and so to threat as thou hast threat
ened. Yet if thou wilt make war then will
| strive to bear mp against thee, for if my
hand seem soft yet shalt thOu find it of
iron when il grips thine armies by the
throat. Soras, / fear thee not. ] weep
for that which thou wilt bring upon our
people and on myself; but for myself | say
! fear thee not. Yet thou, who but yes
terday did strive to win my lover and my
lord from me, whom to-day thou doSt call
n foreign wolf to be thy lover and thy
lord" (hcrc there was an immense scnsa-
ton in the hal.l; thou who but last night,
rs | have learned but since thou didst enter
here, didst creep like a snake into my
slceping-plaCe-ay, even by n secret way,
and wouldst have foully murdered me, thy
sister, rs lay asleep"
ut is false, it is false" rang out Agon's
and a score of other voices.
"lt is not false" said !, producing the
broken point of the dagger and holding it
up. where is the haft from which this
few Sorais?n
at is not false" cried Good, determined
ut last to act like Il loyal man. az took her
by the Queens bed, and on my breast the
dagger broke"
"Who is on my side?" cried Sorais, shak-
ing her silver spear, for she saw that pub
lie sympathy was turning against her.
"What, Bougwanl thou CONTEST not?" she
said, addressing Good, who was standing
close to her, in Il low, concentrated voice.
Thou palc-souled fool, for Il reward
thou shalt eat ont thy heart with love of
me and not he satisfied and thou mightest
have been my husband and n kingl At
least | hold thee in chains that cannot be
broken"
"Tdr ardr lcdrr' she cried "ITere,
with my hand upon the sacred stone that
shall endure, SO runs the prophecy, till the
| Au-Ncndi set their neCkS beneath an alien
yoke, declare war To the end. Who fol-
lows Sorais of the Night to victory and
honor?"
Instantly the whole concourSe began to
break up in Understandable confusion. Many
IL,
the Lady of the Night but some came
from her fullowin" to us. Among the
former was an under officer of Nyleptha's
own guard, who suddenly turned and made
n run for the doorway, through which
SOraiS' people were already passing UNI
slOpogaas who was present and had taken
the whole scene in, seeing, with admirable
presence of mind. that if this soldier got
away others would follow his example,
seized tho man, who drew his sword and
struck Mt him. Thereon the Zulu Spraug
back with a shout, and, avoiding the sword
cuts, began To peck at his foe with his ter
rible AK, till in few seconds the mans
fate overlook him, and he fell with clash
heavily and quite dead upon the marble
floor.
This was the first blood split in the war
shut the gates" | shouted, thinking
that we might perhaps catch Sorais so, and
not being troubled with the idea of COM
hitting sacrlege. But the order came too
late, heC EuardS were already passing
through them, and in another minute the
streets echoed with the furious galloping
of horses and the rolling of Chariots.
So drawing half the people after her,
Sorais was soon passing like a whirlwind
through the frowulng city on her road to
her headquarters AT M'Arstuna, n fortress
situated a hundred and thirty miles to the
north of Milosis.
Aud after that the city was alive with
the endless tramp of regiments and the
preparations for war, and ed CmSlnpOgaaS
unce more began to sit in the sunshine and
go through show Of sharpening lnkoSi-
kaaSi'S razor edge.
CHAPTER MIA STRANGE WEDDING.
One person. however, did not succeed in
getting ont in time before the gates were
shut, and that was the High psiest Agou,
who, as we had every reason TO believe.
was Sorais' great ally, and the heart and
soul of her party
When we knew that Agon was caught.
Nyleptha, Sir Henry. and | discussed what
was To be done with him. / WAS for close
ly incarcerating him, but Nyleptha shook
her head, saying that it would produce q
disastrous effect throughout the country
ABR she added, with q stampof her foot
IF win and am once really queen, will
break the power OF those priests, with their
rites and revelS and dark secret ways" |
only wished that old Agon could have
heard her, it would have frightened him.
Well said SIR Henry. III we are not
to lmprison him | suppose that we may Is
well let him 20. Hes 40 use here
Nyleptha looked at him in a curious sort